Mineral Resources


Vocabulary


gemstone- a tough, multicolored inorganic organism that has a wonderful shining light from its surface
ore- a solid that has an iron inorganic organism
alloy- a rough mixture of two or more steel solids

Outline


Introduction


  • Hopewell people
    • lived in Mississippi river
    • made statues
      • made out of flint (quartz), mica
    • bird statues
    • got minerals, they traded with other people

Uses of Minerals


  • People use Minerals for many things
    • cars
    • glass
    • metals, gemstones
  • Gemstones
    • rubies, sapphires
    • gemstones
      • valued for beauty or rareness
      • once cut and polished, it's a gem
    • gems for jewelry and decoration
  • Metals
    • metals like aluminum, iron, copper, or silver
      • can be stretched into many things
      • tools, weapons, machinery
  • Other Useful Minerals
    • minerals are also used for...
      • medicines, fertilizers, and building, materials
    • talc
      • talcum powder
    • fluorite
      • aluminum and steel
    • calcite
      • microscopes
    • quartz
      • glass
      • electronics, watches
    • kaolin
      • white clay to make pottery
    • Gypsum
      • wallboard, cement, and stucco
    • corundum
      • 2nd hardest known mineral, used for cleaning products

Ores


  • Ore
    • where a rock includes a useful metal or mineral
      • most ores are combinations of a minerals, metals, and different elements
    • Copper
      • from ore chalcopyrite
    • problem is finding the ore

Mining


  • Three ways to obtain ores
    • the mapping strategies let the scientist know what strategy should be used to get the ores
    • strip mines, open pit mines, and shaft mines
  • Strip Mines
    • This is where machinery takes away or "strips" the soil to find the ores
  • Open Pit Mines
    • like a strip mine
      • equipment to dig is larger
      • holes are larger (almost a kilometer deep)
  • Shaft Mines
    • when minerals are in veins, scientists use shaft mines
      • a trail of tunnels are built following the vein
  • How mining hurts the land
    • strip mining and open pit mining
      • leaves marks on the land
    • mining pollutes
      • materials used gets into bodies of water
  • Whats done to help
    • laws to do as little damage as possible
      • must replace or restore soil

Smelting


  • How useful minerals/metals are drawn form ores
    • called smelting
    • ores are melted to obtain useful metal/mineral
      • mixed with other materials to help draw out the useful mineral/metals along with high heat levels
      • heat melts the metal, this takes it away from the oxygen
      • then they take the molten metal
      • when the rest of the other elements are removed, it makes alloy
    • alloy is made of 2 or more metals
      • special alloy is made
      • stronger steel can be made by adding manganese and carbon
      • rust-resistant steel can be made by adding chromium and nickel
Exploring_Smelting_Iron_Ore.JPG
The steps to drawing useful metals/minerals from ores
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